Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods!

Marlowe Family Farms, Farmers Night Out!

June 25th. Marlowe Family Farms. On Thursday June 25 2015 starting around 6 pm we will be hosting a Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society "Farmer's Night Out" here on the farm. Farmers, ranchers and consumers are all welcome.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1596631777281616/

Ag Labor: Complying with the I-9 Process

Monday, June 22 at 11:00 am. Complying with federal and state labor laws can be complicated matters for not only agricultural producers but any business operator.  One aspect of federal labor law is verifying the individual is eligible to work in the United States.  On June 22, Dr. Shannon Ferrell, Oklahoma associate professor of agricultural economics, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University,will cover this topic and touch upon other issues related to federal labor laws.  The webinar is open to all and is free.  The webinar will be recorded for those unable to attend. Please register at https://aleii-9webinar.eventbrite.com.  Web address will be sent to you the day of.

Low Stress Cattle Handling Presentation & BQA Training

 June 22.  4:30 pm.  Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds. Contact Mr. Eirich, 308-632-1230, reirich2@unl.edu. All producers are invited to attend this FREE educational event with a live cattle presentation by Curt Pate. Let us help you learn more about Beef Quality Assurance and how you can implement BQA management practices into your business. BQA certification is good for two years and costs $20.

Conservation, Soil Health and On-Farm Energy

June 22. Emerson, Iowa. Learn about the numerous conservation measures McGrew Brothers Farm has implemented in southwest Iowa, ranging from diverse cover crops to nutrient management. Attendees will also get to view a soil pit and discuss soil health issues. Steve McGrew will talk about the wind turbine they installed three years ago as a source of on-farm energy production.

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems in Agriculture: Preparing for Legal Issues

Tuesday, June 23 at 11:00 am. This webinar will address the current legal and future status of Unmanned Aerial Systems/Vehicles (UAVs) operation in the United States. Issues to be discussed include the current rules and conditions for operating UAVs, proposed regulations for small commercial UAVs released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in February of 2015, and the range of proposed and enacted state laws across the country dealing with concerns around privacy and trespass.  https://uaag.adobeconnect.com/r4ycgl69lq9/

NRCS and Wildlife Habitat in Urban Environments: Linking Farm, School, and Community Agriculture

June 23. Online. In this webinar, join Nancy Adamson to learn how NRCS staff and partners are working in urban areas to conserve and create wildlife habitat, while at the same time protecting watersheds and supporting agricultural production. The one-hour webinar begins at 2:00 pm Eastern. http://www.xerces.org/2015/04/15/nrcs-and-wildlife-habitat-in-urban-environments-linking-farm-school-and-community-agriculture-webinar/

Practical Talk on Pasture and Row Crop Farming

June 24. Coon Rapids, Iowa. Whiterock Conservancy staff will lead a conversation on past and present grazing systems. For several decades, the pasture program had been based around rotational grazing, but last summer introduced high-density grazing. Whiterock staff will outline future plans to expand this grazing program. The conservancy also has an active row-crop program and, in recent years, has partnered with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) on a microwatershed study looking at how planting perennials in waterways can improve water quality runoff – both tile and surface flow – in a no-till, contour farming corn-soybean rotation. ISA staff will discuss their findings, and Whiterock staff will outline their experiences with how to add prairie strips to a farm program. A representative from ISU's Science-Based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips (STRIPS) project will also be present to discuss the long-running project and its findings.

How to Implement Rotational Grazing in Equine Facilities

June 24. Online. This one-hour webinar is presented by the USDA NRCS East National Technology Support Center. Participants will learn about equine behavior and how management needs to be adjusted to have successful pastures on limited acres. The discussion will focus on pasture management and heavy use areas (sacrifice areas) and why they are important for a successful pasture. Conservation planners and others will learn how they can help horse owners develop and implement conservation practices on these acres. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/documents/planned-conservation-webinars

Sell What You Grow: Diversifying Your Market Opportunities

June 24. Online. Join ASAP, along with the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), North Carolina Cooperative Extension, and Farm Service Agency (FSA) for a series of online workshops designed to help you manage risk for your farm. Join this webinar to learn more about the pros and cons of selling to a variety of local markets and how to determine if they are a good match for your operation. Find out more about strategies and tools for connecting with buyers and promoting your products.http://asapconnections.org/events/workshops-trainings/

Update on HPAI Mixed Origin Virus

Friday, June 26 at 1:00 pm. Dr. David  Schmitt, Iowa State Veterinarian and Dr. Beth Thompson, Minnesota State Board of Animal Health will provide an update on the HPAI mixed origin virus that has had a significant impact on the poultry industry in many states this year. Dr. Nathaniel Tablante, University of Maryland Extension Poultry Veterinarian, will moderate the session.http://connect.extension.org.iastate.edu/eden

Hands-On High-Tensile Fence-Building Workshop

June 27. Van Meter, Iowa. Join Ryan and Janice Marquardt at Wild Rose Pastures for a hands-on high-tensile fence-building workshop and lunch. They will cover the basics of corner construction, running high-tensile line, grounding and the best places to source (and not source) materials for building high-tensile fence. http://practicalfarmers.org/news-events/events/field-days/

Little Sprouts :: Art in the Garden

June 27th. Creativity is an important part of gardening! Join us as we make music, play with colors, and more. Presented by Drew Dietle and friends! Little Sprouts is a weekly garden program for our young gardeners to learn and explore at City Sprouts. Open to the public, we encourage weekly participation but welcome one-time visitors as well! Free. http://omahasprouts.org/event/little-sprouts-art-in-the-garden/

Defensive Gardening

Saturday, June 27th 9am-12pm. Papillion: Defensive Gardening:  birds and the bees, bugs and disease, companions/guilds, problem-solving. http://www.keipos.org/classes-workshops.html

W.O.W. – Wings on Wildflowers

Saturday, June 27th. 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Plainview. Topics of the day: Native wildflowers & their importance to pollinators, Understanding the need for plant diversity in the environment,  Hand-harvesting native, wildflowers & tips on starting a plot. $40/person includes transportation, lunch, knowledgeable speakers & free stuff! Register by June 18th to: 402-582-4866 or email northeastrcd@plvwtelco.net

Opportunities

Car Pool to Farmers Night Out!

Hey I am looking for some adventurers to Marlowe Family Farm for the June 25th Farmers Night Out.  Perhaps a little river action and overnight?  Plans adjustable. Troy K-B,   kash-brown@inebraska.com

Dual Purpose, Grass-fed Shorthorn/Devon Herd for sale

We're looking to sell some/all of our wonderful Shorthorn/Devon herd. They have not been given any antibiotics, hormones, vaccinations or grain in the 4+ years we have owned them. We do not baby these cows and they do very well. They are dual purpose. Which means they work very well in our grass-fed beef operation but they also produce a lot of milk. I was told that the older cows had been milked at least once by the previous owners but we haven't actually milked any. We're more interested in developing our beef herd so some of the younger ones will have more of a beef influence.  We have 15 cows/heifers total that are available. Two of those have a strong Longhorn influence, though. About half are going to be in the 7-9 year old range. From there it goes to 5 year-olds and on down. We've been culling about 2-3 cows a year and adding 2-3 replacement heifers. We can be flexible on the timing. They are almost done calving so you can buy them as pairs or we can wait until the calves can be weaned and the cows are re-bred. My intent is to base the pricing on the Huss Livestock Market in Kearney. Ultimately, the pricing will depend on how many you want and how/when you want them (bred cows or pairs). The cattle are located in south-central/eastern Nebraska, in Thayer County, near Reynolds. Delivery is possible. Jon Yoachim, 402-309-4088, jkyoachim@gmail.com

Farm Family Placement Opportunity

'We are a family of four (with two kids), we are looking for any possibility that can lead us to live in the country (no more than one hour and a half driving from the farm to the city of Lincoln). We are specially looking for a farm/ house with a piece of land that is organic oriented .  Please do not hesitate to contact us for any queries (Cell phone; 402-4059195). rllasaca@gmail.com. Thanks. Troy Van Horn".

For Sale by Owner

Tekamah. (40+/- Acre farm with house & buildings). 

We have decided that we must downsize and are going to sell the farm. Please share with anyone you may know who is 

interested.  Northwest of Tekamah, Nebraska. Includes 5 

bedroom/3.5 bath raised ranch with walk-out basement house, Has two kitchens, oversized shower and whirlpool tub in 

master bath, plus walk-in closet. Property has been farmed organically for over 9 years, includes Morton machine shed, 

Butler livestock building and other small buildings. This farm has been ran to be self sufficient for several years. Farm 

does have underground wiring and a battery shed for solar power, solar panels do not go with farm, but all the 

underground wiring and permanent solar infrastructure stays. 

Call Rebecka Fleischman at 402-687-4149 for more information. 

More pictures available upon request. Schedule your tour today.

Looking for Mentorship in Shelton/Grand Island/Kearney Area.

My family and I are returning to Shelton, NE in order to re-establish her family's farm. It is 160 acres but hasn't been used in nearly 30 years. We are going to be establishing a Joel Salatin Polyface Farm type farm. Where we will raise a multi specie critical and threatened heritage breed livestock as determined by the Livestock Conservancy Organization. All livestock will be pastured raised. We are also going to establish seasonal vegetable gardens. Looking for mentorship opportunities in the Shelton/Grand Island/Kearney area that would be willing to help us learn the does and don'ts of pasture based all natural farming. Michael Peña, Michael.A.Pena@uscg.mil

2014 Farm Bill - Conservation Compliance Changes | NRCS

The 2014 Farm Bill re-established the applicability of the Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation provisions to crop insurance subsidies, but the Farm Bill did not change how these were implemented in conservation programs. USDA is seeking comments on an Interim Final Rule, which would make official this change to conservation compliance provisions. Submit comments on regulations.gov.

Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions aim to reduce soil loss on erosion-prone lands and to protect wetlands for the multiple benefits they provide. HELC and WC provisions apply to all land that is considered highly erodible or a wetland, and that is owned or farmed by persons voluntarily participating in USDA programs, unless USDA determines an exemption applies. 

Producers, and any affiliated individuals or entities who participate in most programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Risk Management Agency (RMA) are required to comply with these provisions. Farmers seeking federal crop insurance premium subsidies for the 2016 reinsurance year must comply by June 1 by filing form AD-1026. The 2016 reinsurance year runs from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/programs/farmbill/?cid=stelprdb1257899

Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Survey 

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is working with the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI) to better understand experiences with crop insurance and with a new crop insurance product called Whole-Farm Revenue Protection. Whole-Farm Revenue Protection is a pilot crop insurance policy available for the 2015 crop insurance year. The policy provides crop insurance coverage based on a farm’s 5-year revenue history, and it enables a farm to insure more than one crop with one policy. The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rafiwfrpsurvey. Questions about this survey can be directed to James Robinson at 919-542-1396 ext. 209 or james@rafiusa.org.

Upcoming

Soil Health Field Day

June 29 & 30, 2015: Soil Health Field Day– Scott Gonnerman’s Farm in Waco, NE. Presentors are Dr. Will Brinton (Woods End Lab/Solvita), Ray Ward (Ward Laboratories) and Lance Gunderson (Ward Laboratories). Demonstrations and presentations on the importance of healthy soils. See more at: http://solvita.com/soil/upcoming-events#sthash.qOcXYKt0.dpuf